Vice President Al Gore toured Nashville, where at least two tornadoes tore through the heart of the city, damaging 300 to 400 buildings downtown and perhaps as many as 500 homes in residential areas to the east.

"I'm truly inspired by the way the community has pulled together," said Gore, a Tennessean. "This could have been an awful lot worse than it was."

Despite the extensive damage in Nashville, no one was killed. At least 80 people were injured, including six Vanderbilt University students who were attending a picnic in a park when the storm hit. Senior Kevin Longinotti was in critical condition, suffering abdominal injuries after being struck by a falling tree.

However, in other parts of the state and region, the storms were deadly. Six people died in three Tennessee counties -- Dyer, Wayne and Bradley. Two died in a tornado in Manila, Arkansas, and three died in southern Kentucky.

Gore recalls 1974 tornado

During his visit, Gore recalled how he and his wife, Tipper, were living in Nashville in 1974 when a tornado struck the city. He was a newspaper reporter at the time and returned home to find his wife huddled with their baby daughter.

Gore speaks with Nashville residents about the tornado

"That's been 24 years ago, but I know, just recalling that experience, what awful feelings families can have going through something like that," he said.

Bill Alexander, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Silver Spring, Maryland, said early data indicate that the Nashville twisters were between F-3 and F-4 on the Fujita scale, used to measure the severity of tornadoes.

An F-0 tornado is the least intense; F-5 is the most destructive. An F-4 tornado has winds as high as 260 mph.

Churches hit; Hermitage loses old trees

The twisters heavily damaged two of Nashville's historic churches, St. Ann's Episcopal and Tulip Street United Methodist. Two schools were also damaged, as was the Tennessee Oilers' new stadium under construction downtown.

"It looks like the Jolly Green Giant [came] over here and started stepping on everything," said Kim Yunker, a stadium worker who saw the tornado hit.

The Hermitage, the historic estate of former U.S. President Andrew Jackson, lost at least 100 trees, some dating to the 1700s. But the home itself sustained only minor damage.

At Cornelia Fort Airport, 30 private planes worth about $3 million were destroyed, scattered along the taxiways like haphazardly discarded toys.

'Where's Charlie?' shirts benefit victims

Amateur video shot of the Nashville tornadoes includes the dramatic "Where's Charlie?" footage